Suspect Seized After Church Shooting Kills One, Wounds 2

The quiet of a morning prayer service was interrupted by violence Sunday as a man, described as despondent over the end of a marriage engagement, opened fire with an automatic pistol inside a La Puente church, killing one church member and wounding two others.

The shooting suspect fled, but was captured several hours later in Chino.

Witnesses said a crowd of nearly 150 had just begun a communion prayer near the close of the 90-minute service at the Church of Christ, when gunfire sent congregation members screaming and scrambling for cover under pews.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said the suspect, Carlos Thomas, 25, of La Puente, apparently waited for the communion prayer to fire upon two longtime church members, whom he allegedly held partially responsible for his broken engagement.

After sitting through most of the service near the front of the crowded church hall, Thomas, a part-time church member, stood and opened fire at the third row of worshipers, witnesses said.

Eugene Brown, 39, of West Covina, lived for more than an hour at Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina before succumbing to a head wound, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Also shot was Brown’s wife, Carol, 38, who was in critical condition at the same hospital with undisclosed gunshot injuries.

Witnesses said Thomas had been engaged to marry Mrs. Brown’s sister, and had apparently held the couple responsible when the wedding was postponed and later canceled.

A third victim, Olina Potts, 53, was treated for superficial bullet wounds at the hospital and released. Deputies said she was apparently an accidental victim in the attack.

Thomas “apparently stood, turned toward the Browns and started shooting,” according to deputies. “It appeared they were the (only) intended victims.”

Church member Catherine Bradley, 42, who witnessed the attack, said she knew Thomas, who occasionally attended the church, and thought he had been acting “weird” shortly before the 10:15 a.m. service. Bradley said she greeted Thomas outside the church hall and he appeared troubled, as if “he was going to cry.”

“He didn’t look happy at all,” Bradley said. “I spoke to him and said, ‘Hi, Carlos.’ At first he didn’t say anything, then he kind of nodded his head.

“There was something I couldn’t face in him,” she said, describing the way he looked at her.

Bradley said Thomas had been attending services less and less often at the single-story, mustard-yellow church at the corner of Amar and Unruh roads.

She said that Thomas once had been engaged to her daughter, Desiree Williams, who was killed in an auto accident about a year ago. After that, she said, Thomas had begun dating Carol Brown’s sister, Cassandra Jones, but a scheduled wedding date in January never materialized.

‘Going Down the Drain’

“It looked like everything was going down the drain for him,” Bradley said.

Sheriff’s deputies issued a description and license number of Thomas’ car--a black 1984 Chrysler Laser (2ATF047).

Sunday evening, police in Chino received an anonymous tip that the car could be found at an apartment complex in the 5800 block of Riverside Drive in the Riverside County city. Police said Thomas was arrested without incident as he walked out of an apartment with a man and a woman.

Chino Police Lt. Tom Thompson said Thomas seemed “utterly surprised.” Thompson said the suspect was in the process of moving into the apartment, which he had rented earlier in the day.

Thomas was turned over to Los Angeles County deputies, who booked him for investigation of murder at the Industry substation. The man and woman, who were not identified, were being questioned, police said.